The Amazing Adventures of Sergeant Benton and the Master
by AlecTowser
Summary: Benton suspects the Master is lonely. The Master, of course, denies this vehemently. Written for fanfic100 prompt "053. Earth."


**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own OCs, should I create any for these stories.**

* * *

If you had asked John Benton when he was younger what he thought he would do when he grew up, he would have instantly told you that he would join the army like his father before him.

He would not have told you that he would be chasing aliens around for a livelihood, and he certainly would not have told you that he would ever leave Earth. Yet, here he was, running around on yet another planet that he couldn't recall the name of, trying to corral a megalomaniac Time Lord from enslaving its people.

Such was his life now.

* * *

Benton doesn't really know why the Master took him. He asked why when the Time Lord first brought him onboard his TARDIS (threatening him with his TCE, mind - he wouldn't have gone otherwise), but the Master had said nothing and simply flipped some levers to make them take off.

* * *

He has to admit, life is far from dull, although he does miss everyone back at UNIT. As the Master isn't bound to Earth the way the Doctor is, they travel to many different times and places (usually with the intent of stealing something valuable or taking over a race of people), and Benton has now seen things he never thought he ever would.

The only downside is that he very rarely gets to enjoy the places they visit, as he's too busy trying to chase the Master down and return the items he steals, or sabotage his plans for domination.

He wonders why the Master never leaves him tied up or locked up inside the TARDIS where he can't interfere, but the Master simply says "But where would the fun in that be?"

* * *

Sometimes, he thinks the Master brought him onboard because he's lonely. When he asks, though, the Time Lord denies it vehemently, saying he doesn't need companionship. The only reason he keeps Benton around is because he's valuable.

Benton acquiesces, and says nothing more of the subject.

* * *

He had to break the Master out of prison on the last world they visited for a crime he hadn't even committed, and wasn't that a surreal idea. Who would have thought that not only was the Master innocent, but that Benton would be the one to spring him out of his captors' hold?

When they finally return to the TARDIS, the Sergeant wonders what's become of his life.

* * *

He asks the Master once if he's ever travelled with other people, to which the Master nods curtly, but offers no other information. Sensing the Master would rather not discuss his former travelling companions, he changes approaches: how long has the Master been travelling alone?

Apparently the answer is 'centuries', and he is sure to add on at the end that he is most certainly _not_ lonely, to which Benton responds with "I never said you were."

By now, Benton is convinced that the Master is in denial.

* * *

Benton learns that the Master is very similar to the Doctor in some ways; they both love to show off what knowledge they have and awe the people around them. He learns this when the Master starts taking him to visit places and people - not to control or subjugate, but just to refute his skepticism at some of the Time Lord's claims, and to see the look on his face when he shows the Sergeant another one of the Seven Hundred Wonders of the Universe.

He still has to prevent the Master from trying to take some of the local valuables on the last planet they visited, though.

* * *

They do have ridiculous mishaps on some planets, such as the one world where apparently it's a very large offence to sport any kind of facial hair. After Benton has paid the Master's bail with some of the multitude of currencies onboard the TARDIS, he can't stop laughing at the Master's now clean-shaven face (part of the conditions of his release from prison), or the grumbles from the Time Lord for days afterward.

* * *

Eventually, though, all things must come to an end, and Benton asks if he can be taken back home. The Master concedes, but Benton thinks that he looks slightly upset at the request. But as he leaves the TARDIS and steps out into UNIT HQ only three calendar days after they left, he decides that it can't be… the Master isn't lonely, after all.


End file.
